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Ap American History Chapter 1 Summary

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1.1
a. The global warming and extinction of megafaunal animals allowed agriculture to be born. From this agriculture came inequalities in the social structure due to specialized labor. For the Eastern Woodland Communities, the social inequalities from the agriculture created classes with a chief at the top. They demonstrated power by conquering other tribes in warfare. This was the first time in history when birth determined leaders and upperclassmen.
b. Environment change and global warming caused the human population to experience a rapid growth. As more gatherers and hunters occupied the earth, more animals were being hunted. As a result of this, many megafaunal animals became extinct so the gatherers and hunters had to adjust their food supply. From the need of food came the discovery of agriculture. For the Iroquois, they built their villages around maize fields. The women would tend the crops and overlook the community, while the men would hunt. …show more content…

The triangle trade brought about dependency among the Native Americans for European goods. They depended on getting their ammunition and guns from the Europeans. This supported the Europeans belief that they are superior to the Natives. This notion of superiority came from the fact that the Europeans knew the Natives wouldn’t revolt against them since their ammunition supply came from the Europeans. This would cause problems in the future because during times of war, the Natives had a lack of supplies and a harder time defending themselves. This dependency is a large factor of European dominance in the Americas in the future. The dependency from the triangle trade also caused cultural integrity to be ruined through alcoholism. Families were ripped apart as the Natives became addicted to this substance that was foreign to them before. The addiction became so severe that the Natives wouldn’t cut off trade when they were being taken advantage of by the Europeans, because they wanted

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